Hamm did not give up. Every free moment he had he came over to see her. He would show up at the cafeteria and go down the line singing out, “Aw, come on, honey, say you will, I’m coming back every night until you say yes.” He even started to show up at the bowling alley. Ada and Bess Goodnight, pulling for him, told him where they would be and all the women on the team liked him and encouraged Betty Raye to let him drive her home, which she did.
This went on for weeks. Doc said, “I’d hate to have that boy chasing after me. Hell, at this point I’ll marry him and he hasn’t even asked me.”
Weeks of this kind of intense attention and flattery is hard to resist, even to someone who does not want to get married. But Betty Raye did not have much choice in the matter. Hamm was like a small tornado and she got caught up in the whirlwind and, like most women, was at first curious and then dazzled by him.
That night he had parked the car in front of the house. “Now, Betty Raye, you can’t go in until I get just one little kiss. Just one. You don’t want to break my heart, do you?”
After one and then more than one, she walked onto the porch and into the house in a daze and said to Dorothy, “I think I might be engaged.”
After Betty Raye had gone to her room Mother Smith spoke to Dorothy. “Now, personally, you know, I like him, but I worry that that boy has just come in here and swept her right off her feet.”
Dorothy suddenly looked concerned. “Oh, dear. You think so?”
“Oh, not that way. It’s just I don’t know if he’s given her enough time. They’ve only known one another for a few months. What do you think, Doc?”
“She must like him; she said yes. But he certainly seems to be in one hell of a hurry, I’ll grant you that.”
Meet the Folks
THE NEXT THING Betty Raye knew Hamm had tracked down the Oatmans, who were performing in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the two of them along with Ada and Bess Goodnight as chaperones drove all night to get her parents’ blessing. The Oatmans did not go on until after the first intermission and the Elmwood Springs contingent managed to get to the auditorium in time. Betty Raye had not seen them perform since she’d left and since they had become such a success. She was surprised at how much the act had changed. Her mother and Beatrice still wore no makeup but they did have matching dresses with rhinestone trimming. The boys and Ferris had on shiny suits with plaid cummerbunds. They started their part of the show with the spotlight on Minnie, who held a microphone in her hand. As the group in the background hummed, she began to speak. “I am but a poor woman. I have no precious jewels, no silver or gold, I own no earthly mansions nor wealth in this world. My father is but a poor man. . . . I’ve had many burdens to bear . . . cried many a bitter tear. . . . There were times I wondered how I could go on. . . . But one day a tattered and torn old woman knocked on my door and saw me there in my deep despair. . . . And with eyes filled with joy she said, ‘Oh, daughter, have you not heard the Gospel? Do you not know the good news? Your Father in heaven has given you more than the millionaire’s child. More than the queen on a throne. Open your eyes, daughter, and behold the gifts and precious jewels He has laid out before you. He’s given you diamonds that sparkle in the sky, rubies in the redbirds’ wings, and sapphires in the deep blue sea. Priceless emeralds lay stretched before you in the green grass; there’s silver in the mountain streams and gold in the sunsets of every day. You are clothed in His love and your home is a mansion in the sky. There’s no depression in heaven, no hunger, sorrow, or pain, no dirty dishes to wash, meals to cook, or wood to chop.’ Oh, brothers and sisters, I ask you, is it any wonder why I just can’t wait to get to heaven!” The stage suddenly lit up with dozens of colored lights and they launched into their big hit.
The audience as usual went wild and stood clapping and cheering. After the show was over, Hamm and Betty Raye had to fight their way through the hundreds of fans wanting their albums signed to get to the family so she could introduce him.
Later, Minnie took Betty Raye on their new bus and shut the door so they could be alone. She sat her down and said, “You know, all I want in this world is for my little girl to be happy.”
“I know that, Momma.”
“Now, he seems like a fine young Christian man and I only have one question for you.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
Minnie took her hand and looked her right in the eyes. “Do you love him, honey?”
This was a question Betty Raye had hardly had time to think about. What had seemed to be important up to now was how he felt and how much he loved her. She turned and looked out the window at Hamm, who was standing outside in the middle of a group, talking away, smiling and shaking hands. She could not hear what he was saying, but seeing him down there so small, all alone in the crowd, not knowing anybody and trying so hard to give her family a good impression, touched her so that suddenly a tremendous wave of affection for him swept over her. It was at that moment when she felt her heart go right out to him. She looked at Minnie and answered, to her own surprise, “Yes, Mother. Very much.”
Minnie squeezed her hand, then pushed something that made a hissing sound, and the bus doors flew open and she called out down the stairs in a loud voice, “PRAISE THE LORD, FERRIS, OUR BABY IS GETTING MARRIED!”
Soon, after much hugging good-bye, the big silver Oatman bus pulled out, headed for an all-night sing in Birmingham. Minnie hung out the window, tearfully waving her large white handkerchief, and Chester the dummy hung out another one, making eyes at the couple until they were out of sight.
When they came back, they told everybody the news. They were going to drive up to Poplar Bluff and be married by a justice of the peace the very next day. Jimmy was the only one who was not quite sold on the idea but if that was what Betty Raye wanted, then he was not going to say anything. However, later that night, when he and Hamm were on the porch smoking, he said quietly, “I hope you are going to treat that girl right now that you got her.”
Hamm said, “Oh I will. I know how lucky I am.”
Jimmy flicked his cigarette off the side of the porch. “Good, ’cause I’d hate to have to kill you.”
Hamm laughed and started to say something but Jimmy had already gone in.
The next morning Hamm picked her up at the house and the entire bowling team, including ex-member Tot, came over and stood in the yard to say good-bye, and off the engaged pair went, amid tears and good wishes.
“Name the first one Bess even if it is a boy!” Bess called out as they drove away.
“We didn’t even have time to buy her a decent trousseau,” said Dorothy. “I just hope she won’t have any regrets down the line. He hardly gave her time to pack, let alone shop for a trousseau.”
That afternoon, standing in front of the justice of the peace, when Betty Raye said, “I do,” she meant it. She had no idea how this all had happened or why but the new Mrs. Hamm Sparks found that she was hopelessly in love with her new husband.
Two weeks later Dorothy walked into the house with a big smile on her face and handed Mother Smith the postcard from the Blue Haven Motor Court outside Centralia, Missouri.
Dorothy said, “I know we both had our doubts for a moment but it looks like everything is going to work out.” Written on the back of the card was:
Dear Smith family,
I am so happy! Thank you for everything.
Love,
Betty Raye
Congratulations
It seemed as if the summer was to be a lucky one for everybody. On the morning of August twentieth Dorothy came fluttering down the hall, like a great butterfly. She was elated over the news she had just received and she could hardly wait to get on the air and tell all her listeners. The red light went on just as she sat down.